Serums are among the cleverest skincare innovations in recent years. They are one of those beauty milestones that have dovetailed so neatly into our own skincare regimes, that you wonder how it took so long to invent them in the first place. The beauty of the serum is that it offers intense treatment via the most lightweight formulation. A great serum combines a fairy-light, aerated quality with the power and punch to perform deep in your skin.

For many of us then, serums are a blessing. As skin starts to show visible signs of ageing in our thirties - chiefly developing fine lines in fast-moving areas like eyes and lips - so we require a product with more clout than regular emollients, but less of the heaviness associated with some anti-ageing creams.

Sensitivity is an issue which can arise with age too. Skin experts recognise that while skin needs active treatment to address the breakdown of collagen and elastin fibres beneath skin which keep it youthfully plump, that treatment must also be sympathetic to the fragility that can develop with maturing skin, often as a result of increased dryness.

The aim is to find a powerful but lightweight anti-ageing serum with a high tolerance, which can be used with confidence by all skintypes including sensitive.

One of the newest developments in this area is a breakthrough ingredient called Rhamnose. A natural sugar derivative of plant origin, it works to trigger the youth-preserving activity of the fragile layer of cells found right beneath the dermal epidermal junction in our skin.

The cells in this area are key because their activity helps maintain skin plumpness; and scientists found that rhamnose - which has a natural affinity with the papillary dermis - can activate these cells, causing them to send messages to all layers of the skin to encourage regeneration.

In other words, this one champion ingredient has the ability to affect three different layers of skin from one very critical point. Apart from being a remarkable scientific leap this is a real bonus for skin which is beginning to show the tokens of age as its natural mechanisms to renew and rejuvenate slow down. This amazing ingredient can be notably found in
Vichy LIFTACTIV Serum 10
.

So having started life as a lightweight alternative to anti-ageing creams, serums have taken on a far more significant role in skin preservation. They have become an integral piece of the anti-ageing jigsaw. And while their consistency means they make comfortable care for skin both in the early and later stages of maturity, their benefits measure up alongside creams and often enhance them.

What you can expect from new generation serums is a fresher face - plumper, better-hydrated and firmer skin - via a topical that is so absorbent and lightweight it feels as if it might never have been there in the first place.